“But the government shows no seriousness towards solving the problem”.

Mr Reddy represents the opposition Congress party and succeeded in raising the profile of the problem in March when he went on a hunger strike, demanding the completion of a drinking water project.

Although his fast was forcibly broken he succeeded in stirring up public opinion.

His party also mounted pressure on the state’s Telugu Desam Government by organising a march of fluoride victims to the Governor’s House.

Ram Prakash Sisodia is head of the administration in Nalgonda. He denies the allegations of inaction.

“This problem has been there for ages. The typical underground rock formation with fluoride is the root cause of the problem. And there is no solution other than bringing water from other areas through a pipeline,” he says.

Local people have been demanding this for 30 years and say they want a supply of water from the River Krishna, which flows about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south-east of the area.

Crippled

Saidamma is 36, but looks like a 60-year-old with grey hair and a thin body.

She is a widow and is suffering from severe chest pains and recurring fever. Her son is crippled and her grandson was born with defective legs.

With extensive suffering, there is growing anger, frustration and disappointment.

Sudhakar Reddy is handicapped and uses a hand-driven tricycle to move around the village.

“People keep coming to see us as if we are exhibits. They make meaningless promises that water will come. But nothing has happened so far,” he says angrily.

Venkat Reddy says this is despite a clear ruling that if the government is not able to supply safe drinking water, it should relocate the villagers.

Mr Sisodia says that day is not far off. “We will start pumping water to these villages by June 2004,” he says.

Now that a definite time limit has been given, there is some hope that the region will see drinkable water one day.

But even if that water comes, it will be too late for thousands who had already been crippled by an incurable disease.

FLUORIDE FACTS

• Nalgonda is one of the 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh state

• 600 villages and 300,000 people are affected by excess fluoride in the underground water

• 10,000 people are totally crippled

• Plans to bring clean water from the river Krishna are under way at a cost of 12 billion rupees